request from Kerry to send phone cards as holiday gift to the troops

[imenja]

Exert from an email from John Kerry:

"So, in addition to thanking you once again for all you have done, I'm writing to invite your participation in one final 2004 act of collective generosity. As a soldier, I remember how much it meant to hear from loved ones - especially at the holidays. So, I thought you and I could work together to make it easier for our soldiers serving in Iraq to phone home and hear a friendly voice.

We've found a program that does just that. Operation Phone Home is run by the USO, which has been an extraordinary friend to American soldiers for decades. The USO buys phone cards at cost and provides them to our soldiers free of charge. You can help the USO help our troops this holiday season right here:

http://www.uso.org/carddonations

In January, I will go to Iraq to see the situation firsthand and personally visit with our courageous troops who are serving America so well. Nothing would please me more than telling them that hundreds of thousands of us have expressed our thanks to them in this concrete and personal way.

Your gift can help a soldier phone home.

http://www.uso.org/carddonations

In the New Year, I will be writing you about our 2005 projects and priorities. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this special time of year. Thanks so much for your constant acts of friendship and your special consideration of this request.

Sincerely,
John Kerry"

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

1. Too bad that Skin-Skin and the lads are not around.

We could do a special fundraiser here or sumpthin'.

[JI7]

2. while intentions are good, i think the phone companies should

provide them free to the soldiers directly. and we should write and pressure the companies to do it.

and write Kerry and other members of congress to put the pressure on the telecommunications companies to do it also.

[imenja]

3. Time is short

Christmas is in two days. The execs of the phone companies aren't even around. We can all contribute a little. I myself can't spare $100, but I'll give what I can.

[liberal N proud]

4. I sent that link for the donation to all repukes that I know and asked

them, how patriotic are they and implicated that if they are as patriotic as they have claimed to be over the course of the last several months, then they should be obligated to do something about this.
We will see if any respond.

[rzemanfl]

5. Excuse me for saying so, but

I am against doing anything whatsoever to alleviate the misery that * is causing. Since the "election" I tell charities to call compassionate conservatives if they want money. However, I might be convinced to kick in for some phone cards if they said in big letters "YOUR COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IS A CROOK WHO DOESN'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT YOU OR YOUR FAMILY."

[latteromden]

6. It's not at all the soldiers' fault that they're being used by

the administration. They have to suffer just as much, more, really, than we do back here with "President" Bush. Giving money for phone cards so soldiers can call home for Christmas is not giving money to Bush, or even to his war, so why make them suffer more by refusing to ever give anything?

[rzemanfl]

9. No soldier should have to pay a penny to call home.

I don't think they have to pay for stamps (I know they didn't have to years ago) and calls home should work the same way. I still don't think that it is helpful to do ourselves what Bush should be doing. Should we be armoring Humvees and shipping them to Iraq at our expense? Should we be hiring security guards for army camps so that suicide bombers in Iraqi uniforms don't get in? Let the people who voted for that jerk worry about this sort of stuff.

I read on the Internet about a young man with children, all shot up in Iraq, who is being dunned by the government for his enlistment bonus money (about three grand). They want him to pay it back because he "didn't complete his tour." Do you suggest we take up a collection for him? Where does it stop? Putting little patches on massive insanity is a fool's errand.

[latteromden]

10. Unfortunately, they WON'T do it. And we know it. So it's up to those of us

who see what's going on there and how it's gone horribly wrong to try to help the soldiers and their families, because Bush sure as hell doesn't care enough to. He should, but he won't, and we have to do what we can.

[imenja]

8. humanity: individuals vs. policy

I would encourage you to differentiate between bad policy and soldiers who have to pay the consequences for that policy. Human concerns transcend politics. I wouldn't encourage you to do anything to support the Bush policy in Iraq, but this operates on a different level since it supports individual soldiers. Perhaps you'll choose to share your compassion in another way, toward a different outlet. That is, of course, your choice. I would just like to make the point that alleviating the suffering of individual soldiers doesn't further this insane war.

[rzemanfl]

11. Bush is spending $40 million on his inauguration

That would pay for a lot of long-distance. No soldier should have to pay to call home at Christmas. Period. "Supporting individual soldiers" is what the military is supposed to do.

I read today about a guy who lost his house because the military made a mistake and listed him as AWOL while he was in Iraq. He and his wife and three kids had to move into a trailer and now they are living with relatives in Flatbush. Was this on the mainstream media? No, Scott Peterson was.

Here's what we should be doing, the military is paying guys $15,000.00 to re-enlist, I would contribute to a group that would pay him $15,001.00 not to.

[NYCGirl]

7. It's a great thing to do. DFA started a drive in November, and donated

over 200,000 minutes through DFA Corps!

http://www.blogforamerica.com/archives/005689.html

[elperromagico]

12. Where's Bush on this issue?

After all, he supports the troops and Kerry doesn't, remember?

Bush didn't even bring them a fake turkey this Thanksgiving.

[rzemanfl]

13. Fake turkey.

That was not a "fake turkey" it was a "ceremonial turkey" I heard it on right-wing AM radio.

[elperromagico]

14. Oh, of course. I love Newspeak.

[FrenchieCat]

15. Wes Clark supporters....

Just gave 100,000+ minutes in phone cards to Walter Reed Hospital as of a couple of weeks ago (might be up to 200,000 by now). This was a project generated by the Clark Community Network bloggers.

I think that these type of projects are a fine idea. Many young people who enlist do so because there are not very many options available to them....not because they support this or any other war. That's the sad reality of it. That's why Bush doesn't need a draft. With the cuts just made to Pell Grants and the push back of many social programs, we will see enlistment grow due to this. It's the only way that we can still have an army full of the disadvantage, while the rich continue to get richer. Many need those cards and I am glad to see this type of project grow.

[imenja]

16. Good news! MCI providing free calls!

http://global.mci.com/about/news/news2.xml?newsid=12450&mode=long&lang=en&width=530&root=/about/&langlinks=off

[IndianaGreen]

17. Kerry could not have written that message

"As a soldier, I remember how much it meant to hear from loved ones - especially at the holidays. So, I thought you and I could work together to make it easier for our soldiers serving in Iraq to phone home and hear a friendly voice."

Any Navy veteran would have referred to him or herself "as a sailor." The name "soldier" only applies to the Army. Navy people call themselves sailors, Marines are Marines, Air Force are airmen.

[imenja]

18. I can forward you the email I received it you like

Send me your email address and I'll forward it to you. I've received countless emails from Kerry over the past several months, as I imagine many on DU have. Of course, it may have been an aide rather than he himself who wrote it, but he certainly must have approved it for it to go out under mass distribution.
It may also be posted on johnkerry.com

[IndianaGreen]

19. No Navy man would call himself a soldier, it is offensive!

As to the e-mail itself, it was sent to anyone on the campaign's mailing list, which perhaps numbers in the tens of millions!

Please notice that the e-mail was paid by a corporation, Friends of John Kerry, Inc. Interesting way of keeping a candidacy alive for the next four years without having to abide by election laws.

One last thing, why didn't Kerry go to Iraq before the Election to see for himself how FUBAR that mission was and to give him a means to declare he was going to pull the troops out ASAP if elected?

As it is, Kerry may well go to Iraq to merely echo Evan Bayh's words that we "cannot afford to lose" the war.

----- Original Message -----
From: John Kerry
To:
Sent: Thursday, December 23, 2004 4:26 PM
Subject: A year-end message of thanks to our troops

Dear **********,

I hope this message finds you and your loved ones enjoying the holidays. I have been thinking a lot about what our johnkerry.com community can do to mark the end of what has been an extraordinary year. We have formed bonds of friendship and commitment that I know will extend far into the future.

So, in addition to thanking you once again for all you have done, I'm writing to invite your participation in one final 2004 act of collective generosity. As a soldier, I remember how much it meant to hear from loved ones - especially at the holidays. So, I thought you and I could work together to make it easier for our soldiers serving in Iraq to phone home and hear a friendly voice.

We've found a program that does just that. Operation Phone Home is run by the USO, which has been an extraordinary friend to American soldiers for decades. The USO buys phone cards at cost and provides them to our soldiers free of charge. You can help the USO help our troops this holiday season right here:

http://www.uso.org/carddonations

In January, I will go to Iraq to see the situation firsthand and personally visit with our courageous troops who are serving America so well. Nothing would please me more than telling them that hundreds of thousands of us have expressed our thanks to them in this concrete and personal way.

Your gift can help a soldier phone home.

http://www.uso.org/carddonations

In the New Year, I will be writing you about our 2005 projects and priorities. In the meantime, I hope you will enjoy this special time of year. Thanks so much for your constant acts of friendship and your special consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

John Kerry

P.S. There are 140,400 U.S. military members serving in Iraq. Any calls they make home to those anxiously awaiting their safe return are at their own expense. A gift of $100 will provide 20 soldiers with a 100-minute phone card. A $1,000 donation would do the same for 200 soldiers. Please help. A friendly and familiar voice can mean so much to a soldier serving America so far away from home.

http://www.uso.org/carddonations

Paid for by Friends of John Kerry, Inc.

[imenja]

20. I'm confused

Are you saying you believe the email is fraudulent or that Kerry isn't a "real" veteran? Or are you criticizing his position on the Iraq War?
I certainly realize it wasn't a personal email to me. I mentioned that it was a mass mailing in my previous post. I took your first response as a suspicion that my post or the email itself was fraudulent, which is why I offered to forward it to you.
Obviously Kerry never promised to pull the troops from Iraq. In fact, he said the opposite. Anti-war voters like myself supported him because we so resented Bush's decision to enter Iraq and because it's clear he is bungling the operation badly.
My post was not meant as some sort of adulation of John Kerry. I have a long list of disagreements with him. I merely posted the note because I thought sending phone cards to the troops was a nice thing we all could do to help a bit. Fortunately, MCI has offered to cover the costs of calls home over the holidays.

[IndianaGreen]

27. Kerry did not write the e-mail, it is a bogus piece by the remnants of his

failed campaign to keep Kerry's name in the news. Expect a big hoopla when Kerry travels to Iraq in January!

In the meantime the real work of democracy goes on without notice by the party hacks, and I am speaking of the wonderful work being done in Ohio by the likes of John Conyers, David Cobb, and Michael Badnarik to ensure that all the votes are counted properly.

Presidential Candidates To Demand Ohio Recount
Press Release

David Cobb and Michael Badnarik, the 2004 Green and Libertarian presidential candidates, today announced their joint intent to secure a recount of presidential ballots cast in Ohio.

"Due to widespread reports of irregularities in Ohio's voting process, we are compelled to demand a recount of the Ohio presidential vote," the two candidates said in a joint statement. "Voting is at the heart of the American political process and its integrity must be preserved. When Americans stand in line for hours to exercise their right to vote, they need to know that their votes will be counted fairly and accurately. We are acting to protect the rights of the people of Ohio, and the rights of all Americans. Public trust in the democratic process is at stake."

The candidates also demanded that Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, a Republican who chaired the Ohio Bush campaign, recuse himself from the recount process.

http://www.sierratimes.com/04/11/11/Presidential_Candidates_To_Demand_Ohio_Recount.htm

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

21. Sorry, I donate to causes that help people that need help.

"Supporting the troops" that are occupying and destroying another country isn't included on my donations list.

[imenja]

23. your choice of course

but the idea that the troops and their families don't need help is troubling. I can't imagine you haven't read some of the reports of the conditions that the troops work under and the very difficult economic situation of many of their families--homes foreclosed on, reserves being fired for their days jobs for being called to service in Iraq, and many other awful circumstances.
We all make decisions on what to do with our charitable contributions and there are many worthy causes. But I would never choose to denigrate the need of one set of people because I decide to give to another. I would encourage you to distinguish between the policy of the war in Iraq and the soldiers, most of whom are not in Iraq due to their own choosing.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

25. Yeah, right. My heart bleeds.

Unless "the troops" have changed dramatically since I was in, they'd much prefer a subscription to Playboy and a sixpack to phone cards.

"we all make decisions..". They made a decision to join up. Part of that decision was to accept the pay and conditions that the military offers.

They may not be in Iraq of their own choosing, but they did choose to join the military. What did they think those guns were for? To have something to hold while they marched?

I've been "denigrating" the military since I put in my 4 years.

[Moloch]

22. What a class act all the way.

I would have been honored to call this man my president.

:cry:

[LibertyorDeath]

24. This is truly pathetic America's Military budget was almost

half a Trillion that's half a Fucking Trillion dollars this year & Kerry
who is personally richer than most & married to one of the wealthiest people in America comes begging for phone cards for the troops.

You mean to tell me Rummy didn't bring truckloads of the things with him
while he was Telling the Troops how much they're are appreciated.

Surely to god the Bush family with it's vast ill gotten gain has sent phone cards to all the Troops.

For fucksakes Murdoch over at Faux could do it in the blink of an eye.

What about that rightard O'reilly he must have some major coin to anty up for this or that shitstain Hannity.

The x-mas spirit is starting to kick in now......

[imenja]

26. That money goes to subsidize defense corporations

by buying big, absurdly expensive weapons. It should be pretty clear to everyone by now that the troops themselves are accorded the lowest priority.
MCI has agreed to provide the troops with free calls home over the holidays.

[Zhade]

28. I like the idea, but HATE the email's title.

Just what, exactly, am I to thank the troops for? They aren't "protecting my freedoms" or "making the world a better place".

I WANT THEM HOME, SAFE AND SOUND, NOW!!!!